Attempted murder warrant issued in Colorado for man charged in Utah with freeway shootout with police

Colorado authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a man who shot and wounded another man last month, an episode that occurred two days before the suspect allegedly exchanged gunfire with Utah police while driving on Interstate 15.

Arturo Ray Gallemore-Jimenez, 37, is accused of attempted murder for shooting the 25-year-old man in the back in Aurora because the man took too long to return a borrowed pickup truck, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed Friday in Arapahoe County District Court.

The victim told police he had met Gallemore-Jimenez near an Aurora hotel the evening of Dec. 18, the affidavit states. They smoked either marijuana or methamphetamine together in a hotel room with Gallemore-Jimenez’s acquaintances, he told police.

Gallemore-Jimenez let the victim borrow his pickup truck to run errands while he took a shower, the affidavit states.

But after the victim had been gone about 90 minutes, Gallemore-Jimenez got upset that he had been gone longer than expected, the affidavit states. The victim stopped at a gas station a half-block from the hotel. When he returned to the truck, Gallemore-Jimenez was sitting in the driver seat, the affidavit states.

“Arturo [Gallemore-Jimenez] started cursing at [the victim] and calling him “cuz,” the affidavit states

Gallemore-Jimenez pulled into an apartment complex parking lot and allegedly took the victim’s cigarettes and pocket change, the affidavit states. The victim — who reportedly asked Gallemore-Jimenez not to take his things because he was homeless — stepped out of the car and started to run when he was shot in the back near the shoulder blade,

The victim is expected to live, according to Aurora Officer Ken Forest.

Gallemore-Jimenez then drove to Utah, where on Dec. 20, he allegedly shot out the window at a Nephi gas station because he had locked his keys inside.

After shooting out the truck window, Gallemore-Jimenez used methamphetamine and soon after shot at police when a Utah County sheriff’s deputy pulled him over on I-15, according to charges filed in Utah last week.

Deputies shot back and flattened two of his tires. He drove off and continued to exchange gunfire with police.

Two passing cars were struck by stray bullets and one driver was hit in the shoulder. Investigators haven’t determined whose gun those bullets came from, according to Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride.

The shootout ended when police officers staged at the University Parkway exit shot at Gallemore-Jimenez and he crashed into a nearby fence. Though he was wearing a bullet proof vest, he was hit in the neck and arm, according to charges. He was taken to Utah Valley Hospital and after two days was released into police custody.

In the truck, police found a shotgun, a revolver, methamphetamine and marijuana. Police also found a throwing knife in Gallemore-Jimenez’s wallet and knives on his ankle, according to court documents. He also had two driver licenses with him — one a suspended Utah license and one a current Kansas license.

In an interview with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office after his arrest, Gallemore-Jimenez said he had made a mental list of 13 people he intended to kill. He was prepared to die, he said, and had planned to “find a cove and escape using his shotgun and body armor,” charging documents state.

Gallemore-Jimenez also said he was prepared to shoot officers to avoid going to jail and that he believed “God would have put that police officer in [his] path to kill him,” according to charges.

He is charged in Provo’s 4th District Court with three counts of attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony. He was also charged with failure to stop at the command of police, and with the use of a firearm by a restricted person, both third-degree felonies; theft, a second-degree felony; two counts of possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor; and driving on a revoked license, a class C misdemeanor.

Gallemore-Jimenez is being held at the Utah County jail in lieu of $1 million cash-only bail.

His criminal record also includes convictions in Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Missouri, and arrests in South Dakota and Colorado, according to court documents.